If this photo hadn’t come with a caption, I doubt that I would have recognized where this photo was taken. What we’re seeing an early shot of the construction site of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. They broke ground on January 9, 1926 so I’m guessing this shot was taken a few months later. That slope we can see is the slope of the auditorium seating, which is being dug out by steam shovels. I wonder if the guys driving those things realized they were helping to build what would become the world’s most famous movie house.

In case you’re wondering, that tall pole with the ball on the top is the flag pole on the Masonic Temple.

** UPDATE ** – According to this article, the land on which Grauman’s Chinese Theatre was building used to belong to Francis X. Bushman!

My thanks to Kurt from GraumansChinese.org for his help on this post.